


Scoundrel

by Cynosure



Category: The Greatest Showman (2017)
Genre: M/M, it's just train smut, sweet smut?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-14
Updated: 2018-08-14
Packaged: 2019-06-27 05:10:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15678687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cynosure/pseuds/Cynosure
Summary: As if he was not already throwing caution to the wind, Phillip had all too eagerly committed to abandoning absolutely everything and dashing away with a man who gave him the impression of being part savior, part scoundrel - all madness. The most enticing thing that had ever stepped foot in front of him.





	Scoundrel

**Author's Note:**

> It's literally just porn on a train. It's a good time. Not beta'd so all the apologies for anything wrong.

Despite the warmth of the shoulder pressed against his own, bouncing slightly and bumping against him with the rhythmic movement of the train, Phillip had yet to entirely convince himself that all of this wasn’t some sort of ridiculous fever dream or an alcoholic delusion. Less than a day before, he had stepped outside after curtain call on his latest production with every intention of not only ignoring any social opportunity that may come before him, but getting entirely sloshed to the point of not being capable of said interactions with any sort of decorum. His night of inebriation (and, most likely, debauchery at some point) had only gotten as far as enough swigs from his flask to make him sway before he was sought out by bright eyes and a sparkling smile. 

 

Phillip had no idea how many hours passed from that first up-to-no-good grin to the pair collapsing on the two sofas in his sitting room with manic giggles shaking their bodies. All he knew was that morning had come eventually (and with it a god awful throbbing in his skull) and he was being corralled by Barnum into packing the belongings that he wished to bring and making arrangements for those he would leave behind. Phillip knew full well that what he was being offered in compensation would be enough to live on, but the benefits of his inheritance and his production dues would be lost; paying for these particular lodgings plus the commute would be out of the question. As if he was not already throwing caution to the wind, Phillip had all too eagerly committed to abandoning absolutely everything and dashing away with a man who gave him the impression of being part savior, part scoundrel - all madness. The most enticing thing that had ever stepped foot in front of him.

 

“Charity says that you’ve a reputation as a scandal,” Barnum spoke, the gravelly rumble of his voice startling Phillip from his retrospective. His posture did not change in the slightest, no sign that he was addressing something of any real concern to him as his eyes studied the stars out of the window. 

 

“People create stories to entertain themselves, just as I do,” Phillip responded. He stretched his legs out before him and tapped the tips of his shoes together. This was not a conversation that he wished to have. Despite how clear it was that Barnum had no qualms with human oddities and taboo, it set every nerve alight within him that his proclivities may be addressed in the open. It simply was not something that one spoke aloud, especially not with near-strangers on a train.

 

“Stories, right,” Barnum nodded, his fingers tapping a staccato rhythm upon his thigh. Phillip’s eyes were drawn to the movement. “I’m not referring to the stories, but to the truths. That you’re a habitual drunkard. That you’re a…  _ confirmed bachelor _ .”

 

As his spine stiffened at the words and Phillip geared himself for whatever may come - an attack of words or body, he had no idea - he raised his head to find the other man gazing back at him with simply a crooked smirk and raised eyebrows, awaiting a response. Phillip blinked a few times, eyebrows furrowed as he tried to read the emotion in Barnum’s response. If anything he looked amused, flippant as if he was teasing and unbothered by the implication behind his words. Perhaps it was the playful curiosity in Barnum’s eyes that lulled him into comfort, or the sleepy haze of the near midnight hour, but Phillip finally just shrugged and broke eye contact, interested once more in his shoes.

 

“No one has ever addressed it quite so openly, thank you,” he replied. “You’ve already observed me as a drunkard to an unreasonable extent, no point arguing with that. The other… well. I see no harm in admitting it to a man who seems to revel in the presence of the unacceptable.” 

 

Barnum only hummed, nodding as if he had only learned something new about the man next to him of no consequence, as if Phillip had not just admitted to behavior that he’d been beaten for and been reminded was morally, spiritually, and lawfully repugnant time and time again.

 

“And when will I get to observe that for myself?”

 

Phillip swallowed down an undignified noise of surprise, though it did nothing to stop the look of confusion that spread across his face instantaneously. Of course, Barnum observed all of this with his unwavering gaze, smile still present but tinged with something else entirely.

 

“Pardon?” Phillip inquired, annoyed with himself for the fact that the sound emerged as more of a squeak than a word. It pulled a low chuckle from Barnum in response.

 

“This isn’t a condition of your continued newfound employment,” Barnum said. He shifted in his seat, turning sideways and folding one leg underneath him to face Phillip fully, arm resting across the back of the seat. “Please don’t take it for that. I’d like to believe that I am a far better man than such a thing. I’m only… putting the offer out. I am notorious for enjoying what others say that I shouldn’t.”

 

Phillip let out a huff of breath and looked away from Barnum to the empty seat across from them in the private compartment, currently covered in the newspapers that Barnum had rooted through with grumbles to himself and the occasional thrusting of a page into Phillip’s face a few minutes prior. He could hardly believe what he was hearing, was convinced that he must be misinterpreting the words coming from the other man. Not that the alternative didn’t send a thrill down his spine and heat into the pit of his stomach. Phillip had been in awe of Barnum since the moment he’d seen him, handsome and fit, a commanding presence with gentle but raucous laughter that made him feel warm in a multitude of ways. He could not afford to be wrong.

 

“Are you saying that you want to…” Though Phillip had never considered himself prudish, speaking so bluntly - even in privacy - made him feel as shy as the schoolboy that he once was, sensitive and timid.

 

“Have sex,” Barnum filled in, never one for beating around the bush, his gaze not wavering in the slightest as he waited for the younger man to return his stare once more. “With you, yes. If you’re amenable, of course.”

 

Pulling in a shaking breath, Phillip found Barnum’s gaze straight on him as he turned his head back toward the other man. There was something beautiful in his blatant, unashamed attraction to Phillip, the way that his eyes roamed, the way that his fingers tapped impatiently on the seat but the rest of him sat still in patience as he waited for Phillip to respond. Slowly, Phillip rested his head on the back of the seat, turned just so that his lips barely brushed the inside of Barnum’s wrist where it laid. 

 

“Don’t you have a wife?” Phillip asked. He did have  _ some  _ sense of shame, after all.

 

“One that I’ve been separated from romantically for a year,” Barnum replied as he flexed his fingers out and brushed them against Phillip’s cheek. The sensation of his feather-light touch trailing below Phillip’s ear made him shiver. “Any other questions?”

 

With a soft smile that reflected back at him on Barnum’s face, Phillip shook his head. He stood briefly, double checking that the shade was lowered on the door and that the door to the compartment itself was locked for their privacy. When he turned back around, Barnum was staring at him with a new heat in his eyes, relaxed into the seat with his feet planted firmly against the floor, legs still spread in his domineering manner.

 

“Come here, Phillip,” came the words from his mouth, not a question, and certainly not an order that Phillip had any intention of not giving in to. His feet seemed to carry him toward the other man before his brain had even made the decision to move forward and it was only a moment before he was pulled down by the hips and into straddling Barnum on the train seat. 

 

“Hello,” Phillip chuckled as he let his hands rest on Barnum’s chest, the only barrier between skin the button up that the other had shed down to nearly the moment they had settled on the train. His hands explored, pressing up and over Barnum’s pectorals to the side of his neck, tracing down the line of his shoulders. The firm muscle beneath his palms intoxicated Phillip.

 

“Hi,” Barnum replied with a flash of a grin before pulling Phillip down into a kiss with a hand around the back of his neck. The kiss was gentle, a soft press of lips rather than an immediate jump into mindless passion. Phillip sighed contentedly as Barnum broke the kiss but returned almost immediately, beginning a pattern of soft touches with grins in between as if between young lovers lost in happiness. Barnum’s free hand began to roam, trailing down Phillip’s side and up again, fingers moving around to study the curve of his spine. 

 

“You’re gorgeous,” Barnum breathed in reverence before wrapping his arms around Phillip’s waist to pull him closer. Phillip instinctively deepened the kiss with a quiet groan, making his way into Barnum’s mouth as the other man entered his own. The taste of him and the skillful slide of his tongue made Phillip dizzy, hips rocking forward in the most minute of movements. 

 

Though his brain felt dangerously close to short-circuiting from the combination of stimulation to his rapidly filling cock from the tiny thrusts as Barnum trailed his teeth now over the curve of his throat, Phillip somehow managed to begin working his fingers on the buttons of the shirt before him. Each was a small victory, revealing a new piece of tanned skin for Phillip to admire, peppered with coarse, dark hair that he found tantalizing. He pulled himself back a bit to put some space between them so that he could press his mouth to Barnum’s chest, lips and tongue trailing behind his busy hands. Eventually, when the shirt was freed completely, Phillip let his mouth and hands roam a taut abdomen before spreading Barnum’s legs even further and dropping to the floor. The huff of breath from the older man was enough to plaster a satisfied grin on Phillip’s face.

 

His teeth worried into his bottom lip as Phillip reached out and let his hand follow the outline of Barnum’s half-hard cock through trousers that left little to the imagination. Even less than fully aroused, his size was evident, of average length but of a girth that Phillip had yet to encounter. The thought made him heady with lust, and he made short work of unclothing Barnum to the point that Phillip could push his trousers down to his ankles and be face to face with the object of his interest.

 

Taking his time for the moment, Phillip wrapped his hand around the base of Barnum’s cock and began stroking leisurely, cheek rested against one of the man’s bare thighs as he gazed up at him. Barnum huffed out a noise somewhere between pleasure and amusement, unable to resist the urge to tangle his fingers into the previously perfectly tamed hair upon Phillip’s head. The action was so tinged with affection that Phillip closed his eyes against it, though his hand continued its ministrations. It made it far too easy to imagine it was genuine.

 

“No. Open your eyes, look at me,” Barnum said with a gentle tug, and Phillip obeyed without hesitation. It would have been quite difficult to deny the softness behind the heat in Barnum’s eyes baring down on him. He smiled when Phillip’s eyes met his own, looking at the younger man as if he was a prize that he was delighted to have won. It made an inexplicable warmth settle in Phillip’s chest. 

 

With Barnum at full thickness in his palm, Phillip adjusted and finally took his cock into his mouth, wasting no time with teasing and beginning to work himself down in slow increments as far as possible. The girth of him had already begun to make his jaw ache, but the way that Barnum threw his head back initially before dragging it back up as if he couldn’t stand to  _ not  _ watch made Phillip not care in the slightest.

 

“Beautiful,” Barnum praised, scratching his nails lightly against Phillip’s scalp. “Christ, Phillip. You look amazing with your lips stretched out around me... yes, just like that, darling.”

 

Phillip hummed around the member in his mouth, reveling in the praise as he worked his tongue as best as he could while bobbing his head, tracing the veins and shape of Barnum’s cock. Half of him wanted to just memorize the entire experience should it fail to ever happen again, though he was beginning to believe the chances of this being something steady were fairly high. The vibration from the train’s movements radiated up through him, making his own arousal evident as he reached a hand down to undo his trousers, freeing himself and stroking along with his rhythm on Barnum’s cock with a groan.

 

A couple of minutes passed like this, Phillip struggling to keep his rhythm while Barnum seemed transfixed on him, murmuring praises and mussing up every inch of Phillip’s hair available. He would release it every now and then to let the fingers of one hand trace the edges of Phillip’s lips, groaning when he felt the slide of himself into the other man’s mouth, wet with saliva and burning with heat. 

 

“You must be getting tired,” Barnum breathed out eventually as he pulled Phillip away gently. Phillip knew he must look a mess, red faced and hair in every direction, kneeling with his own cock in hand as he flexed his jaw to work out some of the ache. If anything, Barnum grinned in satisfaction as he studied him, leaning forward and down to capture Phillip in a kiss - messy, brief, and uncoordinated. Phillip stood and shed his trousers, diving back into the kiss eagerly. When Phillip brought his arms to wrap around Barnum’s neck, Barnum pulled him down and back into his lap with ease, mouths breaking apart for only a moment before returning to each other.

 

“Shame I’ve nothing to prepare you with, or I’d have you entirely right here,” Barnum mumbled against Phillip’s lips with a tone of very real disappointment. “Suppose we’ll have to make do. Shift back a bit.”

 

Phillip did so, putting a small amount of space between their torsos. Barnum raised his hand to Phillip’s face with an order to spit and Phillip could not help but to run his tongue along the other man’s palm instead, visibly smirking. With an eye roll and a mumble of “unhelpful fiend,” Barnum simply did it himself before reaching between them and wrapping his hand firmly around Phillip. Able to take a hint, Phillip did manage to do the same after a brief moment, and wasted no time before beginning to rock into the embrace of Barnum’s hand.

 

For his part, Barnum let himself be at the mercy of the movements of Phillip’s wrist, a hand reaching around to grip harshly at Phillip’s backside, earning a deep groan and a harsh thrust forward from the other man. Barnum hummed his approval, using the hand to pull Phillip toward him and into his hand in a steady rocking rhythm. When he leaned forward to latch his teeth just above Phillip’s collarbone and leave the beginnings of what was sure to be a dark, possessive bruise, the rapid breathing in his ear made it evident just how riled up Phillip was.

 

“Not going to last long, are you?” Barnum said, his own breath stammering as he took joy in both the effect that he was having on Phillip and the effect that Phillip was having on him, his hips jolting upward occasionally of their own accord, his mouth unsatisfied unless it was tasting the salty skin in front of him. All that Phillip was able to answer with was a shake of his head, free hand finding an iron grip on Barnum’s shoulder as leverage to rock into him with more force, the volume of his groans just short of too loud for a train. 

 

“I won’t either, not with you looking and sounding like that,” came Barnum’s reply. The hand that he’d been using to pull Phillip toward him traveled to his front, dutifully pushing the younger’s still-buttoned shirt up and out of the way as his keens increased in pitch and his thrusts began to become erratic. Barnum dropped his head back and observed the sight before him, Phillip with his eyes screwed shut and mouth slightly open as he moved with abandon, chasing his orgasm and clinging to Barnum’s shoulder for dear life. “Let go for me, Phillip. Come on.”

 

Before Barnum had finished his words, Phillip had found himself toppling over that edge, back arching as his cock erupted, his seed painting a filthy picture across Barnum’s abdomen as he continued to thrust into the circle of his hand. He had become fairly useless in working Barnum’s cock as he came himself, but Barnum seemed to take no issue, merely working his hand over Phillip as he unloaded and continuing just to the point of oversensitivity. 

 

However, before Phillip had a chance to recover at all and resume his actions, Barnum had laid him out flat on the floor of the carriage on his front, kneeling over the back of Phillip’s thighs. He heard the sound of Barnum spitting into his hand a couple of times before he felt the other man’s cock nestle in the line of his backside. He had almost begun to rise or make a protest before he felt the slide between his cheeks with no intent of pressing in, just the quick, slapping thrusts against him as hands held his cheeks together for Barnum’s benefit. Phillip groaned into the carpet of the carriage, vaguely noting how unsanitary it must be, when he heard Barnum’s growl of a groan and the hot splash of ejaculate upon his lower back. 

 

Having gone limp, Phillip panted against the floor when he felt Barnum drop down next to him, eyes to the ceiling. For a long, quiet moment, Phillip simply watched the rise and fall of the other man’s chest as his breathing slowed, threatening to lull Phillip himself into sleep. He was brought back awake a bit by Barnum’s chuckle as he turned on his side to face him with the same cheshire grin that Phillip had already grown to love.

 

“As lovely as that was, gorgeous - and it  _ was _ ,” Barnum said, rising to a sitting position as he dug a handkerchief from his coat pocket and wiped over a still unmoving Phillip’s back, “I imagine this train will be stopping in… eh, maybe two, three minutes.”

 

“Oh, for god’s sake,” Phillip whispered, suddenly animated and going about righting his clothes as an unaffected Barnum wiped over his chest and laughed heartily at the frazzled man before him. “Why are you laughing?! We could have been caught! Imprisoned! They’ll be walking the halls anytime now to wake people.”

 

“Young Phillip, learn to trust me,” Barnum placated with a put-upon sigh. “I have impeccable timing. It’s worked out flawlessly for me thus far.”

 

“Oh, flawlessly. I’m sure,” Phillip countered with a shake of his head, tucking his shirt in and attempting to pull on his waistcoat before his arms were trapped against his chest by Barnum’s arms catching him from behind. 

 

“Mhmm. Just as I knew you were as eager to touch me as I was you, so I timed a nice, late train where we wouldn’t be disturbed,” Barnum mumbled against Phillip’s shoulder before biting playfully through the fabric there. Phillip turned and swatted him away, doing up his buttons and trying to smooth his hair into some semblance of order.

 

“Scoundrel,” Phillip grumbled.

 

Barnum either failed to hear him or paid him no mind, simply smoothed out his clothes, unlocked the door, and took his seat by the window once more as the train began to slow. Phillip simply stared at him for a moment in the moonlight before dropping next to him, grumbling about the state of Barnum’s wrinkled shirt that he’d hardly made any attempt to fix. When Barnum immediately began to counter with reasons that he shouldn’t have to fix it involving a convoluted argument about societal expectations, Phillip knew that this man was going to be a challenge - possibly the death of him - but quite possibly the greatest thing to ever walk into his life.


End file.
